Tube closing machine with sealing rolls



Dec. 4, 1934. c. J. WESTIN 1,983,505

TUBE CLOSING MACHINE WITH SEALIfiG POLLS Filed Oct. 22, 1951 Mum rm i "of the long jaws.

Patented Dec. 4, 1934 UNITED STATES TUBE CLOSING MACHINE WITH SEALING I ROLLS Charles J. Westin, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor to F. J. Stokes Machine Company, Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application October 22,

2 Claims.

My invention consists of certain new and useful improvements in machines used for closing and sealing the folded end of collapsible tubes such as are commonly used to contain pastry or fiuid products. A novel feature is the use of rolls whose curved surfaces bear on the folded portion of the tube which is to be sealed at single lines of contact.

Reference is made to the disclosure of certain types of tube closures made in my application for Letters Patent filed April 29, 1921, 533,605, described as Collapsible tubes having folded ends and application for Letters Patent filed September 4, 1931, No. 561,111, described as Hermetic closure for collapsible tubes.

. One purpose of my invention is to provide improved means to efliciently produce a natural wave in the corrugated closure described in applicationSerlal No. 533,605.

. It is also the purpose of my invention to provide improved and more efficient means for producing the hermetic closure described in my application No. 561,111. a

It is also the purpose of my invention to pro- 3 vide mechanical means for producing the tube,

closure at higher speed of production than-is possible by the present intermittent type of closing mechanisms.

The mature and arrangement of the parts 9 included in my invention are suchthat they may readily be arranged and modified to suit present tube filling and closing machines.

The open end of the tube is flattened and the folds made as has been customary in the past,

my invention only considering the means for producing the final seal or the corrugation of the closure.

Heretofore tube closures either with straight or corrugated folds have been produced by 49 means of straight jaws exerting a forming and pressing action along the entire length of the fold of the tube at the same time. This method is generally satisfactory for the straight closure at slow speed and small pressures. On corruv gated tubes of larger diameters the folds are :quite long and being held by the jaws along the full length at the same time, it is evident i that unless there is a decided slipping of the fold endwise, the metal in the fold must stretch ,in order to conform to the corrugation or wave This stretching must weaken ,jthe very part which it is desired to strengthen also has a tendency to crack or loosen v the lithographin'g and cause this to peel off.

To overcome this objectionable feature I use a 1931, serial No. 570,338

set of rolls, either fiat or corrugated, rotating at a speed equal to the speed of travel of the tubes. The use of rolls gives a one point ,contact which permits the fold to form intocorrugations without any possibility of stretching. In thus forming the waves or corrugations a certain amount of the length of the fold is taken up and the finished corrugated closure is shorter than the flat folds were. This 'permits the use of smaller cartons for packing and shipping, which of course, is an economy.

For a further exposition of my invention reference may be had to the annexed drawing and specification at the end whereof my invention will be specifically pointed out and claimed.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is the plan view of a portion of a machine constructed according to my invention.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a plan view of a detail showing a 75 modified form of roll.

In the construction of a machine according to my invention, which is selected from other embodiments for illustration 'in the drawing, there is shown dial 7 supported by a frame 8 and operated from a suitable source of power (not shown).

Dial '7 carries therein a plurality of cups 9 or other means for supporting the plurality of tubes whose ends are first folded and then closed. At its edgedial 7 may be provided with gears 11 or other driving means for purposes hereinafter explained. While I have shown the means for supporting the tube,'.whose end is to be closed as the dial '7, I may, if preferred, use an endless belt or any other form of supporting device. e r

Mounted on frame 8 by bolts or other fastening means I provide a bracket 12 which supports shafts 13, 14 and 15 therein. Shaft 13 carries at its lower end a gear 16 adapted to cooperate with the gear teeth 11 on the edge of dial 'Z. Shaft 13 also carries a sprocket 1'1 which cooperates with a sprocket 18 by means of a chain 118 to drive shaft 14. Shaft 14 also mimics a roll 19 which presses upon the folded portion ofv atube 20 carried by dial 7. Roll 19 is the front roll and cooperates with a rear roll 21 mounted on shaft 15. Gear 88 on shaft 14 may cooperate with a gear 22 on shaft 15 to drive shaft 15 and to thereby drive the rearroll 21 mounted thereon. Either one of the rolls 19 or 21 may, 'however, be undriven and be simply mounted for rotation, about its supporting shaft. Whatever form of gearing or other drive is selected to rotate one or both of the rolls 19 and 21, this drive must be designed so that the peripheral speed of the driven roll or rolls, relative to the tube 20, is the same as the speed at which the tube 20 is carried by the dial 7.

The rolls 19 and 21, Fig. 3, may be corrugated or serrated as desired at the portions which contact with the tube 20 so as to impart to the tube corrugations or indentations which serve' to strengthen the folded end which forms a closure in the tube.

The rolls 19 and 21, Fig. 3, may be heated by a gas-flame or electricity, etc., so as to warm or heat the fold of the tube to any desired temperature at the point where pressure may be exerted or at the point of contact between the rolls and the fold of the tube. Where cements are used for sealing the folds of a closed tube, it may be desirable to produce a temperature of the fold high enough to melt and fuse the cestandard, a gear on said counter shaft meshing with the teeth on said dial, a roll supported on said standard on one external side of said tubes, a second roll supported on said standard on the opposite external side of said tubes so that said rolls receive between them the end of a .tube and apply pressure thereto, intermeshing gears connected to said rolls todrive them at the same speed, and means separate from said counter shaft for driving one of said rolls from said counter shaft.

2. A tube closing machine including in combination, a diaL'a set of teeth on the perimeter of said dial, means within the perimeter of said vdial for continuously conveying an endless plurality of tubes whose ends are to be closed, a standard, a counter shaft supported by said standard, a gear on said counter shaft meshing with the teeth on said dial, a roll supported on said standard on one external side of said tubes, a second roll supported on said standard on the opposite external side of said tubes so that said rolls receive between them the end of a tube and apply pressure thereto, intermeshing gears connected to said rolls to drive them at the same speed, sprockets on said counter shaft and on one of said gears, and a chain for driving one of said rolls from said counter shaft by connecting said sprockets.

CHARLES J. WES'I'IN. 

